Saber Guardian 2014: Forces from 12 nations cap exercise in Bulgaria

Pictured here are personnel who participated in the Saber Guardian 2014 Multinational Brigade. Hosted by U.S. Army Europe, and the Bulgarian Land Forces, Saber Guardian 2014 is a multinational military exercise involving approximately 700 military personnel from twelve participating nations including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.S., as well as representatives from NATO. The exercise, which ran until April 4, 2014, was designed to strengthen international agency and military partnering while fostering trust and improving interoperability between NATO and partner nations involved in foreign consequence management and peace support operations with U.S. forces. Saber Guardian 2014 is part of the U.S. Army Europe annual training and exercise program and has been planned for since 2013. Last year's iteration of the training exercise was conducted at the Romanian Land Forces Combat Training Center in Cincu, Romania. The training at Saber Guardian 2014 will reinforce USAREUR's commitment to increasing regional flexibility, preserving and enhancing NATO interoperability, and facilitating multinational training.

Pictured here are personnel who participated in the Saber Guardian 2014 Multinational Brigade. Hosted by U.S. Army Europe, and the Bulgarian Land Forces, Saber Guardian 2014 is a multinational military exercise involving approximately 700 military personnel from twelve participating nations including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.S., as well as representatives from NATO. The exercise, which ran until April 4, 2014, was designed to strengthen international agency and military partnering while fostering trust and improving interoperability between NATO and partner nations involved in foreign consequence management and peace support operations with U.S. forces. Saber Guardian 2014 is part of the U.S. Army Europe annual training and exercise program and has been planned for since 2013. Last year's iteration of the training exercise was conducted at the Romanian Land Forces Combat Training Center in Cincu, Romania. The training at Saber Guardian 2014 will reinforce USAREUR's commitment to increasing regional flexibility, preserving and enhancing NATO interoperability, and facilitating multinational training.

This year's exercise was designed to strengthen international agency and military partnering, and to foster trust while improving interoperability between NATO and partner nations involved in foreign humanitarian assistance operations with U.S. forces.

It is in this context that U.S. Army Europe, or USAREUR, Deputy Commanding General Maj. Gen. Richard C. Longo, who served alongside the Bulgarian Land Forces's Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Krasimir Kanev as exercise co-director, congratulated the participants on not only a job well done, but for overcoming the many multicultural barriers.

"A week ago we were separated by our nations," Longo said. "But today, those same people learned to work together as one team, and are standing here. Your presence here shows your country's commitment to our alliance, to our partnership, to our common goal of a stable and secure region."

Saber Guardian 2014 was a command post exercise, established to prepare commanders and staffs to operate in a foreign humanitarian assistance environment.

While the exercise's Multinational Brigade -- made up of personnel from 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Army National Guard, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- and USAREUR's rapid-deploying Contingency Command Post served as higher elements; the 7th Civil Support Command provided the interface for consequence management between host nation authorities and other U.S. organizations.

USAREUR Contingency Command Post Mission Command Systems Lead Dan Hawkins, explained how a common operating picture allowed all participating parties to exercise the interoperability, partnership and commitment that Saber Guardian 2014 set out to further enhance.

"By providing a collaborative workspace for our joint and multinational partners, this exercise allows them to effectively communicate in support of the overall operation."

The ultimate goal of this exercise, Kanev reiterated, was to improve interoperability, mutual trust and understanding among the armed forces of the participation nations.

"The concurrent execution of two separate missions -- humanitarian and peace support -- being implemented with close cooperation between two separate units, makes this a very unique exercise," said Kanev. "I'd like to express my highest respects to the teams and friendships made among the 700 military personnel; helping create valuable and lasting relationships that will contribute to future operations."

During his opening ceremony remarks, Longo expressed his sentiments on Saber Guardian 2014 and how multinational exercises as such contribute to the peace and security of the region. With the Bulgarian-based exercise finished, his remarks reinforced those sentiments.

"This has been an incredibly complex exercise. This is the most complex exercise the United States Army in Europe has participated in, in many years," Longo said. "What have we accomplished? We have learned to work together as partners. We have learned to operate together towards a common goal. We have demonstrated a true commitment to each other to stand shoulder-to-shoulder no matter what crisis we face in the world."